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Skin Bacteria to Prevent Cancer in Future

Many people may find it strange, but skin bacteria could be your first force of defense against deadly cancers. Of late, Richard Gallo, professor at University of California San Diego in the US, has confirmed that the skin layering called of Staphylococcus epidermidis found on human skin inhibit the growth of cancerous cells inside human body. The bacteria release a chemical “6-N-hydroxyaminopurine (6-HAP)” that kill several type of cancerous cells inside the skin itself.

The Skin microbiome (bacteria) produce antimicrobial peptides that is capable of fighting against pathogenic bacteria. Similarly, 6-HAP can be used to prevent cancer and inhibit the further growth of cancerous cells inside the skin. In the United States, around 1 million skin cancer cases are reported with most of them around 94% of the same relate to non-melanoma skin cancer. This type of cancer happen due to overexposure of skin to the UV rays emanating from sunlight.

A team of scientists discovered the S. epidermidis strain that creates 6-N-hydroxyaminopurine (6-HAP) compound. It is well known that 6-HAP is a biological molecule preventing the spread of transformed tumor cells leading to lower chance of developing skin tumors in humans.

Research Study Conducted on Mice is Successful

A research on mice disclosed that intravenous injections (IV) of 6-HAP every 48 hours over 15 days lead to no toxic effects. However, when the same diffused with melanoma cells in mice, the size of the tumor reduced by 50 %.

“There is increasing evidence that the skin microbiome is an important element of human health. In fact, we previously reported that some bacteria on our skin produce antimicrobial peptides that defend against pathogenic bacteria such as, Staph aureus. In the case of S. epidermidis, it appears to also be adding a layer of protection against some forms of cancer, said Gallo, spearheading the research on this subject.

Another team of experts conducted their experiments on the possible relation between skin bacteria and cancer at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine. Their molecular research on Staphylococcus epidermidisproduce again confirmed that the bacteria do prevent skin cancer in reality. As many as around 9000 people die every year in the US due to skin cancer. Such research will be extremely vital towards protecting these precious lives on time.

The American Academy of Dermatology, cautioned that around 20% of the Americans are likely to develop some sort of skin problems including growth of cancerous cells at one point in time in their lives. It happens due to over exposure of the skin to UV rays of sunlight alongside the humongous amount of toxic environment in the US. These research studies will definitely throw more light on how to prevent the Americans from falling prey to deadly Cancers.

The Research is Underway to Discover More on this Subject

The auto-produce of skin bacteria that are capable of producing specialized chemicals actually immunizes the patients and inhibits the growth of cancerous cells. Strangely enough, these chemicals are not poisonous for human skin at all.

Dr. Gallo pointed out that more study on this interesting development is underway and some more breakthrough can be expected in the next few days. Now, the focus is to know the formation of 6-HAP and then determine if a reduction in the chemical could invite skin cancer risk or any quantity of the chemical produced inside skin is all-effective to prevent skin melanoma.